In the field of multiple station, metal cutting transfer machines, workpieces are mounted in work holding fixtures known as pallets; these pallets are progressively moved through the machine from station to station, and are located and clamped in any given station by a mechanism referred to as a registry, which accurately locates the pallet and the workpiece carried on the pallet. The tooling, which performs a metal cutting operation on a workpiece in a given station, is mounted adjacent a work station on a slide movable relative to said workpiece and the slide is mounted on a slide base. It is the normal and customary practice to utilize a machine construction in which the registry and slide base are independently mounted to a suitable base structure.
It is one object of this invention to provide a structural configuration which provides greater stiffness and rigidity than the aforesaid customary structural practice and thus can result in better machining accuracy.
It is another object of this invention to provide a structural configuration in which the inherent rigidity and resulting accuracy is increased through a reduction in the number of interfaces between the parts.
Other objects of this invention will be apparent in the following description and claims in which, with the accompanying drawings, there is disclosed the principles of operation of this invention and the manner and process of using the invention directed to persons skilled in the art all in connection with the best mode presently contemplated for the practice thereof.